What role does Africana Studies play in helping students understand the history, culture, and experiences that Juneteenth commemorates?
MW: Africana Studies is not about slavery or history; it’s about using an African-centered lens to bring healing to the insidious divisions haunting humanity. Whether it’s society convincing us to place man over woman, straight over gay, mind over emotion, humans over earth, capital over labor, or white over black, we are riddled with incentives to be distrustful, hateful, unhappy, paranoid, and lonely by forces that feed off the confusion of the masses to enrich the few. Given that the modern world has made whiteness represent “normal” to the extent that its counter anchor of Blackness represents “abnormal,” hearing what Blackness has to say about anything and everything is the ultimate perspective. That is what Africana Studies is about—not to make people feel guilty or angry, but rather empowered to grasp what is eroding our ability to get along to have a real chance at healing across the lines that were artificially made to divide us.
NACC: Africana Studies is not a passive transfer of information but rather an active, embodied encounter with truth. When we teach Juneteenth through an African-centered lens, we restore Black people to the role of protagonists in their own liberation. That reframing is not revisionist; it is more complete.
MW: The Eurocentrism of the mainstream view is palpable because it uses all the usual stereotypes: Africans are helplessly naive, a white man is the savior, and Africans are to be forever grateful. Even the name “Juneteenth”—as if Black people are too ignorant to know the exact day—plays on the stereotype of “unintelligent Black people.” By positioning students to see what Juneteenth looks like from the Africans’ perspective, Africana Studies brings historical accuracy to the picture, which helps students make better sense of our world today—for example, why many white conservatives may subconsciously view Black people as confiscated property and despise them for not staying “in their place,” or remaining loyal to their white “saviors,” or how white enslavers in Virginia and the Carolinas dragged enslaved Africans with them to Texas during the Civil War, forming the backdrop for why Texas is the state with the highest population of Black people; or why there are murmurings to this day of Texas leaving the Union and forming its own country. The Black perspective of Africana Studies uncovers the hidden DNA of the country and the world, bringing unmatched accuracy to the study of criminal justice, business, psychology, and more, which in turn increases our ability to be truthful and heal.
NACC: For students who have spent their educational lives encountering themselves only through someone else’s narrative, that shift can be genuinely transformative.
AF: Africana Studies is not only one of the few academic spaces that asks you to reexamine the lens through which you view the world, but also an area of study that challenges you on a deeply personal level, regardless of what race you are. It’s a crucial part of understanding Juneteenth because it gives you the full context of why we celebrate and why our celebrations look the way they look. Juneteenth is an incredibly complex and layered holiday with equal parts pain and joy. Africana Studies is a guiding hand for you to hold while you navigate.
Why is it important for Buffalo State to continue to invest in and grow the Africana Studies program?
NACC: The program has demonstrated remarkable momentum and growth. Our Introduction to Africana Studies course generates demand for learning what has been historically erased and dismissed. We have developed Eastside community internships, co-created a Ghana Study Abroad in partnership with the Department of Fashion and Textile Technology, and built a learning community for first-year students with evidence of positive retention outcomes. Additionally, we have several programs both on- and off-campus to educate the community, while promoting the unit through various media outlets. Together with the Educational Opportunity Program, we host “The Return,” a homecoming event that draws Black alumni from across departments and disciplines. Africana Studies has become a touchstone for belonging on this campus, even for those who never majored with us.
MW: Students report feeling lonely or purposeless. Africana Studies is a remedy because it is within our disciplinary definition to foster a culture of community. What makes our approach compelling to students of all backgrounds is our dedicated faculty, high quality courses, and our subject matter—restoring connection among diverse humans and between humanity and the earth.
